French markets, euro gain after TV debate

LONDON, May 4 (Reuters) - The euro hit a day’s high and France’s stock market surged as investors closed out bets on rising French political risk on Thursday, citing centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron’s solid performance in a televised presidential election debate.

France’s benchmark CAC 40 index hit a nine-and-a-half-year high, up 0.9 percent on the day and outperforming a less than half percent rise in Europe’s broader STOXX 600 index of leading shares.

The euro overturned early losses against the dollar to trade around half a cent higher at $1.0941, up 0.5 percent on the day , while the premium investors demand to hold French 10-year government bonds over German peers tightened to around 38 basis points. That was the narrowest in almost six months. (Reporting by Patrick Graham, Helen Reid and Dhara Ranasinghe)